"I felt like I could have done better pitching from the stretch," Kawakami said through a translator. "It was kind of a shame."

Wainwright allowed a run and six hits in five innings with four strikeouts and no walks. It was a huge improvement over his first two outings in which he yielded nine hits and six runs, three earned, in 4 2-3 innings.

Between starts he threw an extended side session and threw on flat ground every day to work out his problems.

"Today was an important one for me," Wainwright said. "Now I sort of feel like a big league pitcher again."

Albert Pujols and Jason LaRue each had an RBI for the Cardinals. Pujols fouled out twice against Kawakami before hitting an RBI single in the fifth for the game's final run.

The Braves' Jeff Francoeur was 2-for-2, his third straight two-hit game, and is batting .333 after a 3-for-20 start. He has yet to strike out in 28 at-bats after fanning 111 times during a dismal 2008 in which he batted .239 with 11 homers and 71 RBIs and spent time in the minors.

"It's not even so much the hits as it is just feeling comfortable," Francoeur said. "I'm not trying to hit home runs, I'm not trying to hit balls off the wall. It makes you excited about what's to come in the season."

Francoeur said Pujols complimented him at first base after one of the hits.

"He told me, 'You look great, you look relaxed,"' Francoeur said. "It feels good for people to notice."

Wainwright retired the Braves' first three hitters in order three times, requiring only eight pitches to get through the first inning. The rest of the Atlanta lineup was 6-for-12 against the right-hander, including three straight singles in fourth by Francoeur, Matt Diaz and Martin Prado to produce Atlanta's lone run.

Prado was 3-for-3, raising his average to .310.

Wainwright welcomed the challenge from the Braves, who entered with a major league-best .306 batting average - eight points better than the second-place Cardinals - and an eight-game winning streak.

"The difference between a good start or a bad start several times during the season is making one pitch when you need to, or two pitches," Wainwright said. "I had some jams that could have gotten bad and I was able to make some pitches."

Kawakami said honing his control was the most important aspect of his game heading into the season. He's not happy with his velocity yet, either, although he said he'll be ready to go.

Notes: After the game the Cardinals optioned OF Nick Stavinoha and IF Jarrett Hoffpauir to Triple-A Memphis, leaving the team with 44 players in camp. Stavinoha batted .333 (6-for-18) and Hoffpauir .333 (6-for-18). ... Braves 1B Casey Kotchman snared a line drive blistered by Chris Duncan to end the first. ... The Cardinals have won six in a row, the last three in a span of 24 hours.